


An unexpected catch.

by Pengellyn



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blowjobs, Dysfunctional Relationships, I haven't decided yet, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sex, Violence, back from the dead, maybe actual morancest, maybe hints of morancest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-05-27 03:04:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6266971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pengellyn/pseuds/Pengellyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When his brother shows up unexpectedly after five years, Sebastian has to find a place for him in his new life. But with so much history between them, and with the ex-colonel no longer being the one in charge of his own life, sacrifices may have to be made. He might have to choose between his brother and his boss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Why Jim chose to follow Sebastian on his jobs, the sniper would never know. He always got bored, complaining about how Sebastian spent too long lying on his front on a rooftop and not enough time blowing people’s brains out for the criminal’s sadistic pleasure.  
Jim was sat against the low wall, arms folded, humming away to whatever tune was in his head while he waited for Sebastian to finish the hit, and quite frankly Sebastian couldn’t wait for the target to leave the building so he could get this over with and get out of the cold, his calloused fingers were starting to freeze to the trigger. Jim’s comments were not helping.

“Bored, Tiger.” He drawled from the side, and all Sebastian could do was sigh, flexing his fingers. Sometimes he thought he’d enjoy the company, Jim always made it seem like such a good idea and true the cruel delight on Jim’s face when Sebastian made a hit was a sight that Sebastian would forever be grateful he got to see.  
On the ground below, a hotel door opened with a creak in the evening light, and Sebastian’s whole body shifted into focus as he aimed his crosshairs on the man responsible, his target for the evening, and the sooner he was dead the sooner Sebastian could light the cigarettes in his pocket and drive his boss home.  
A gunshot rang across the courtyard, the Army Major fell ungraciously into a puddle in front of the hotel. Jim sat up with a start, spinning to get a good look. Even when he wasn’t paying attention, it didn’t take a criminal genius to know the shot hadn’t come from Sebastian’s rifle.

“He took your kill.” Jim pouted, dangerously unimpressed

“Bastard. “ Sebastian responded dryly, scanning the ground through his crosshairs to find the other gunman, he was none too pleased about having been lying here for the best part of an hour for someone else to take his kill from him at the last second. And he had a horrible feeling his night was about to get a lot longer.

  
“There.” He said shortly, pointing out a silhouette on the ground who was clutching the wall in the shadows, a the shape of a handgun clearly tucked into his belt. “Want me to take him out?” It would be an easy shot from here, the man had no idea they were above him, poised to kill.

  
Jim licked his lips. “No.”

Sebastian let the rifle rest on the ground.

“He might be working for someone, and I need to know who, so I can have a little chat with them. If our client finds out someone else shot our friend down there, they might not pay up.” He put his hands in his pockets, playfully twisting on his heel and grinning at Sebastian expectantly.

  
Sebastian scowled, he understood, but this might be a long night, there went his plans for a cigarette He knew what order was coming next, he knew that delighted grin on Jim’s face when something new cropped up. Hair stood up on the back of Sebastian’s neck as he waited in that long pause for his next words to come, muscles twitching like a sprinter listening for the starting gun.

“Go get him, Tiger.”

He might as well have said 'go fetch'. Sebastian would have gone anyway. Five years in the army and another four of working for Jim had made him bloody good at following orders. The sniper made quick work of the fire escape, scaling the side of the building in a matter of seconds and dropping to the ground just feet away from the man, but the newcomer was surprisingly fast. The moment he became aware he was being chased he raced off into the darkness with surprising speed, Sebastian had only met a handful of people in his life who could outrun him, it was just his luck that one of them would turn up today.

They skidded round corners, his chase trying to lose him among the criss-crossed alleyways and side roads, Sebastian in hot pursuit but still ten feet behind, pistol in one hand but every time the man turned a corner he lost the shot. Fuck the man was fast, and he knew what he was doing, he was playing Sebastian through the alleys in a way that only came with the right training. Perhaps Jim was right, maybe he was a hired shot, just like Sebastian.  
They kept running, Sebastian would get marginally closer to catching his target and then he’d swerve again, open up the distance between them, kicking over bins and scaling gates to try and get Sebastian off his tail.

A blur of grey came from a side road, catching the newcomer unaware and slamming him into the wall with a thud and the nasty crack of a nose breaking on the bricks. God, he’d never been so happy to see his boss. Sebastian sighed with relief, smiling breathlessly and approaching Jim in the darkness.  
Jim was pinning the man to the wall, with one arm wrenched up his back and a hand in his hair pushing his face into the rough stone with a strength Sebastian always marvelled at in the Irishman, the man was hissing a string of curses, scrambling to reach the gun in his belt but Jim neatly took it from him and tossed it to Sebastian.

And then something very odd happened, Jim seemed to reel back in horror when the headlights of a passing car lit up the alleyway for a few short seconds, and he roughly spun the man around, his face honestly bewildered, and there were very few things in the world that surprised Jim Moriarty.  
But when he spun the assailant around and found himself staring straight at his sniper, the same sniper who he could hear breathing just feet away, whose white-toothed grin he could see even in the darkness. That was enough to shock him.

Sebastian’s jaw dropped to the floor.

“Severin?”


	2. Chapter 2

(Four years previous)

He’d held a funeral. Of course he fucking had. Severin was the only man Sebastian would even consider giving up what little money he had for his brother’s send off.  
Even so, he stood, black suit sagging from the rain, wondering if it was worth it. A short ceremony, a handful of people – people who had served with Severin in the army, and they avoided Sebastian like a stray mongrel.

It had only been six months since Sebastian’s discharge, since he’d got two thirds of his troop killed in a foolish accident. The survivors – Severin among them, had stayed on, followed orders, and then some bastard had led them straight into an ambush. Those who weren’t killed were the ones who now took their hats off to the empty coffin of a man whose body had been destroyed in the blast. The third such funeral they’d attended in just as many days. They were the final four, none of them would go back into the forces now, they’d been through too much, and the army wouldn’t allow them back into that hell hole. The pitiful remnants of Sebastian’s once unstoppable team now stood before him in the rain. He knew they wouldn’t come to _his_ funeral.

Sebastian stayed until he was the last one there, perching on a nearby gravestone with a cigarette between his teeth, barely noticing that he was soaked to the skin, until he heard a quiet voice behind him.

“Colonel...?” He looked over his shoulder, tried to force down the anger at just wanting to be left alone and then letting his face soften when he saw who it was. Private Anthony Lavrenty had served as a spotter often when Sebastian had been needed as a sniper, he’d been a good friend to both twins and Sebastian wouldn’t lash out at the young man.

“Tony.” He acknowledged.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Not your fault.”

“No, but… still. He was a good man.”

“They all were.”

The ex-private went silent, looking at the ground. It was rather cruel, Sebastian knew, to talk like this, to remind the young soldier of it all again, particularly to a man he’d once called his friend and to the only man at the ceremony who had bothered to speak to the bereaved brother. Not that he blamed the others, but he still felt bitter. He turned back to the grave and they stayed in silence a moment before Sebastian offered Tony a cigarette by way of apology.

The company was nice. Tony knew Sebastian well enough that they stood a while in comfortable silence, smoking and thinking because there was nothing else to be done. Nothing to be said between them. They’d both lost enough.

It was Tony who turned to leave first, hesitating, seemingly unsure what to say as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags, passing them to Sebastian. The colonel took them, turning them in his wet fingers to reveal the writing. The metal was cold in his hand but the gesture genuinely warmed him and he offered his friend a small smile. Tony smiled back, clapping his heels together and giving Sebastian one last salute before leaving, nothing more said between them, just the way it should be.

He hadn’t been back since. Severin wasn’t there, no body, just a headstone that had cost Sebastian all he had left. It was meaningless to him. Fuck the symbolism. In his own grief he had replaced his own dog tags with Severin’s, his own sunk to the bottom of the Thames weeks ago, but having the weight around his neck felt like home, a little part of the army and a little part of Severin, nobody needed to know that the _Moran, S_ didn’t stand for Sebastian.

And when Jim had pulled him from the gutter four weeks later, he didn’t tell Jim, either.

 

* * *

 

 

Of course, the empty coffin made sense now.

Silence.

Shit.

Sebastian stared at the man Jim had pinned against the wall, his nose was broken, blood streaming into his mouth, but even in the dim evening light there was no denying who the man was. His twin, his best friend, the joker in his little army troupe. A man who had rotted away in some corner of Afghanistan four years ago.

Not dead.

Their eyes met, Jim glanced between them waiting for an explanation but right now Sebastian wasn’t paying attention to his boss, he just stared at his brother, dumbfounded. His gun hand was shaking for the first time since he’d met Jim, very aware that he’d been seconds away from shooting his own brother. Severin had paled, understandably, and he stopped struggling and went soft in Jim’s grip. _Sebastian?_ He mouthed noiselessly and Sebastian’s heart began to pound in his chest, a mixture of anger and relief.

Sebastian saw red, he lunged forwards taking his brother by the collar and ripping him from Jim’s grasp, his gun still held tight in the other hand and then out of pure habit he pressed it into Severin’s temple, ignoring the way Severin went stone still in genuine terror. Sebastian needed to understand. The gun had it’s usual effect, Severin’s silence broke with a strangled plea.

“Sebastian, please…”

 “No. No. You don’t get to do this to me. You’re dead.”

“Am I?”

“I held a funeral, Severin.”

Severin looked down at the floor. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“They told me you were caught in a bomb.”

“I was.”

Sebastian swallowed, his hand sweating and fidgeting on the gun in his hand.

“I hate to interrupt your little domestic, boys. But, Sebastian, we have a job to do.” Jim broke Sebastian’s concentration, bringing his mind back to work, he remembered the chase, the assassination, he was here to work. Jim stepped over to stand close enough to his sniper that his head nearly rested on his shoulder, one small hand reaching up to cover Sebastian’s on the gun, steadying him with a quiet purr. His fingers brushed on the trigger, taking control of the weapon, and of the conversation.

 “Who are you working for?” He asked dryly, straight to the point. “You see, Sebastian and I were hired. We’ve got a lot of money resting on this job, and then you saunter in at the last moment and take Sebastian’s shot.”

 

Severin scoffed, but he spoke quickly, out of fear of dying. “The whole world thinks I’m dead. I don’t exist. I don’t work for anyone. Take the credit for the shot, I don’t care.”

 

“Then why?” Jim snapped right back, impatient.

Severin’s eyes narrowed, and he glanced to his brother, disbelieving. “You don’t know who he was.?” When Sebastian looked back at him blankly his voice turned bitter, and he laughed, short, spitting blood.  
“General Alexander took over after you left, Sebastian. Or what was left of us, he practically finished us off. He sent us on that raid….” He paused, trying to hide the shaking in his voice and Sebastian couldn’t tell if it was upset or anger. “Leeson had only been back a few days, we told the General it was suicide but he sent us anyway, sent us straight into the ambush. They picked us off one by one before the bomb finished the job..

I was thrown clear, unconscious, nearly buried with a broken arm, I survived. But when I came round I was alone, figured they thought I was a gonner. I didn’t know who had survived, if anyone. I just knew I was going to get Alexander for it. So, I made my own way, found a regiment who didn’t know my face, faked my name and made it home with their help. Two weeks ago I learned that the General was going to be in London. So I just - I took my chance.” He turned to Jim. “I swear, I didn’t know anyone else was after him.”

Jim listened, with Sebastian’s gun pressing ever harder into Severin’s temple he let a silence fall in the alleyway. Sebastian could feel every tiny movement in Jim’s fingers, deliberating over emptying the gun into his brother, the trigger was already half pressed, a millimetre more…. and he felt nothing. Jim was in charge, it was Jim’s decision. Not his.

And then the gun fell to the floor. Jim stepped away, gripping Sebastian’s arm.

“Go.” He said. Severin’s eyes darted to Sebastian, but Jim simply repeated the order. Sebastian refused to meet his brother’s gaze.

“-GO!” Jim yelled, the word echoed off the walls and Severin flinched and scampered off like a rabbit, all Sebastian could do was watch his brother disappear into the darkness.

“Come, Tiger.” Jim commanded, turning on his heel. And of course, Sebastian followed.


	3. Chapter 3

 

Finally, Sebastian could stand outside their flat and light up. It just wasn’t as peaceful as he had hoped. His mind couldn’t rest, kept thinking about Severin, about the funeral, how he’d nearly shot his own brother.

This wasn’t fair. Sebastian thought he’d found something with Jim. He could move on, he’d done his best to forget the first twenty six years of his life and then Severin returns from the dead and brings it all flooding back to him.

A shadow caught his attention, watching him from the doorway.

“You can stop staring at me, boss.”

Jim smirked, stepping out to join him in the cold and holding out a hand for a smoke.

“You’re brother’s a clever man. Faked his own death, that’s not an easy task. I dug into every file and followed every lead when I checked you out, even I was led to believe he was gone. Got to admire him, surely.”

Sebastian spat out a bitter laugh. He could always trust the boss to make him feel better.

“Yeah. Four weeks after I kill half my men and get thrown out of the only job I ever had, and my brother lets me think he’s been blown up. He let me bankrupt myself on a sodding funeral that only half a dozen people attended. Forgive me if my opinion on him has dwindled somewhat.”

Blowing out smoke to the wind, Jim looked up at his sniper with a half-smile. “And yet, you can’t stop thinking how glad you are that he is alive.”

Not a question. He knew, one look at Sebastian and he knew exactly what he was thinking. It made Sebastian wonder, and he scanned Jim’s face for any sign. Both him and Severin had been after the same man, at the same time, same date. Coincidences like that didn’t happen around James Moriarty.

“Did you know?” He asked simply, he didn’t need to skitter around the question, Jim would answer him truthfully.

“Who the good General was to you? Yes.”

“You didn’t say anything…”

“It wasn’t important. Would you have done a better job if it was personal? Of course not. I didn’t feel it necessary to bring up the past.”

“And about Severin?”

A pause. Too long for Sebastian's liking, as his boss took another drag.

“No. I didn’t expect the past to jump up at the last minute and shoot. That, I admit, was a nice surprise. Glad I came along now.” He stumped the cigarette out with the toe of an expensive shoe. The cinders hissed on the damp ground. “Come inside and shut the door, Tiger. You’re letting the cold in.”

Sebastian did the same to his cigarette and followed with a sigh.

“He was supposed to be dead. Four goddamn years, he could have written, or sent a text, he knew my bloody number by heart, I made sure of it-“

“Sebastian…”

“- He was all I had, the only man who still saw me as a human being and not as a murderer, the last thing I needed was for him to die on me, to leave me with  nothing-“

“Sebastian…”

“We were brothers, best friends, always there for each other-“

“Sebastian!” Jim’s yell cut through his thoughts and silenced him, he hadn’t even noticed Jim trying to interrupt him, and that was unusual in itself, Sebastian noticed everything his boss did, never missed a command, no matter how subtle, and it made the sniper shrink back into the sofa, rubbing his head with his thumb and forefinger.

“Sorry, boss.”

“That’s better.” Jim said. “I won’t hear another word about it. Don’t let him become a distraction.”

That was Jim’s kind way of telling him that if Severin became a problem, then he would be swiftly dealt with. Sebastian understood that, but he understood something else, too.

“Boss.” He called to Jim, the Irishman stopped in the doorway to his bedroom.

“Yes?”

“Thank you for not killing him tonight.”

Severin should have died, whether Jim would call it sentiment, or luck, or maybe he’d tossed a coin while Sebastian wasn’t looking, but Jim had made the decision to let Severin live, and Sebastian was thankful for that.

So Sebastian kept his mouth shut, for Jim. Tried to keep Severin from his mind, to focus on work, though the rest of the week was relatively quiet. At business meetings or secret dealings he could get away with following at Jim’s heels like an Alsatian, snarling and snapping when other people got too close. He itched to get his hands dirty. When an order finally came for him to kill, he moved faster than he had before, pouncing on the Serbian and slicing his throat with a cruel, satisfied smile Jim would be proud of. When he turned back, breathless, he was pleased to find his boss smiling down at him, maybe a little surprised at his sudden rashness – normally Sebastian would put on a show, this was just stress relief. The blood on his hands, on his jeans and his shirt, the glint of the blade in his hand, the proud look he got from his boss, it felt like home.

“Good boy.” Jim always said. It made Sebastian swell with some kind of fucked up pride.

 

* * *

  

It was nearly a month before Severin crossed his path again. It wasn’t deliberate, but now they were both in London, and there wasn’t a back alley in London that Sebastian hadn’t found himself in at some point, it was bound to happen.

Jim wasn’t there this time. Sebastian was out on a job, a simple fetch and carry, in this case fetching a body and making sure the woman would be found face down in the Thames by the evening. Normally they had people to do that, but Jim had been keeping Sebastian busy. And he found himself in the centre of London at rush hour, every man and his dog seemed to be rushing in different directions to get home to their dinner, so many people, and it made Sebastian smile to think that Jim controlled every single one of them in some way or another. If you went up the food chain far enough, you found Moriarty.

It was just a flash of gold hair in the crowd, but at 6ft 4 the twins were easy to recognise, and before Sebastian could even think he was charging through the crowd trying to catch up with Severin, shoving people out of the way and reaching out to grab his arm tight when he finally reached him. Severin turned, trying to pull away with a look of panic when he realised who it was. But he stood still, eventually, and Sebastian released his grip, hoping that Severin wouldn’t run. Not that he would blame him, he wouldn’t even take chase, if Jim spotted him here he’d be in big trouble, it was only worth the risk if Severin wanted to see him too.

Severin’s eyes searched the crowd behind Sebastian.

“Your boss with you?” He asked nervously.

“No. Just me.”

“Oh.” They fell silent again, Sebastian realised he should have gone straight home, he had nothing to say to Severin any more, once upon a time, just after Severin’s  ‘death’ he wanted to tell him so much, but it had all gone now, he’d made his peace by yelling it at a stranger drunk in a bar. So in the end Severin spoke first, and Sebastian had to crack a smile at his oh-so-familiar choice of words.

“Do you want to get a drink?”


	4. Chapter 4

The pub was dark, the chitter-chatter of mid-afternoon London primed to drown out their conversation, Jim would never frequent a place like this, it felt homely and Sebastian had never felt more at ease with his brother than when they each had a beer in front of them.

“Thanks.” Severin said, taking a large swig from his glass, and looking up at his brother across the table with a comfortable smile. The last time they had gotten drunk together had been before their last tour with the army, eight months before Sebastian’s discharge. Too long ago, and they had gotten far too drunk, ended up rolling around on the floor doing things both of them, proud soldiers they both were, blush at the memory.

“How are you, Rin?” Sebastian asked eventually. It was a question that had been playing on his mind since that night in the alleyway. Severin didn’t need money, his father’s will had made quite sure of that, the favoured child had gotten everything after Sebastian wrecked the family name by being thrown out of the army. But it must have been horribly lonely, the whole world thinking he was dead for four years. Severin had gotten scrawny, his t shirt hung loose from his shoulders, his face was drawn, and his sandy hair was thin. Then again, he was alive. And Sebastian had to keep pinching himself to believe it.

Severin shrugged, but gave his brother another smile. “Always worrying about me, brother. I’m fine, Sebastian, honestly. I wasn’t; When I first came home I really could have done with you at my side, and I looked for you, but nobody had heard from you in months. Then I heard that Tony had been killed-“

“Tony?”

“Yeah, Tony Lavrenty, you know, from the army-“

“I know who he is. He’s dead?”

“They found his body in a warehouse. It was just after I got back, really knocked me for seven, to know that he’d survived too and then some bastard slit his throat…”

Sebastian heard the choke in Severin’s tone, and placed a hand on his arm in comfort though he grit his teeth. This was news to him, but it wasn’t surprising. Tony was the only person who had been kind to him back then, Jim must have known, seen him as a threat. It angered Sebastian, a little, to know that he hadn’t just left it all behind to go to Jim, everything had been cut off with a sharp blade. Sebastian didn’t exist anymore, the boss wouldn’t have it any other way. Sebastian’s anger was short lived.

“Do you have a place to live? You’ve still got money?”

“Stop worrying, Sebastian. I said I’m fine. Especially now that bastard is dead.”

“You don’t look fine, Severin.”

“I’m not as strong as I was, but I’m right where I want to be right now.”  
A pause, then Severin continued, shyly.  
“And I got to see my brother again. That’s a nice touch.”

Holding up his glass and tapping the edge to Severin’s, they drank, and Sebastian had to admit he was right. Fuck, it was good to see Severin again, even if it couldn’t last.

“Tell me about your boss, who is he, Sebastian?”

“James Moriarty.”

“No, but really, Seb?”

A raised eyebrow, Severin clearly didn’t believe him. Probably for the best.

“The boss- he’s amazing, Severin. He pulled me out of the gutter, put a rifle in my hands and a shirt on my back and something to keep on fighting for. Whatever he wants done, I do it, no questions asked.” He smirked, just thinking about Jim, it made him proud to be the man his boss had sculpted him into. He’d never dared betray him, he’d never wanted too, Jim was everything, had filled a pretty big gap in Sebastian’s life. It just turned out that particular hole wasn't yet empty.

A cheeky grin crossed Severin’s face. “The way you talk about him, it’s like he’s your lover.”

That was the clincher. He did love Jim, in a way he couldn’t explain. There was no romance, no gentle caresses or flowers. It was messy, bloody at times, but Christ, did he love Jim. He went to stand, he had to get out of here, go home.

“Look, Rin. It’s good to see you, it really is, but… the boss… he’s very protective. I shouldn’t even be here, I shouldn’t have bought you the drink…”

“You’re the one who chased me down the street, Sebastian. I got the message in the alleyway. I tried to stay away.”

He couldn’t deny it, a moment of madness, perhaps, Jim would kill him if he found out. Severin had been warned to stay away, and Sebastian had been warned to let him go. He ran his finger along the rim of his glass absently. He couldn’t not see his brother. They were twins, best friends, partners, throughout their lives they’d always been closer than brothers should have been, because they belonged together. The result of their separation was plain to see; Severin half blown up and abandoned in a desert halfway across the world while at the same time Sebastian was lying in a pool of his own vomit, drunk in a pokey flat surrounded by mould and rats. That was why he’d chased after Severin, that was why he was sat here with a beer when he should have gone straight home to Jim.

“I shouldn’t have.” He knew that much.

“I’m glad you did.” Another smile, the wide, toothy grin that Sebastian knew well, he never could resist it.

“Me too.”

A silence fell between them, it wasn't uncomfortable this time, though, it was calm and normal. Severin bit his lip, debating whether to say something.

“Come back to my flat, just for the evening, I’ll cook dinner, Seb, it’ll be nice.”

And just like that, Sebastian disobeyed Jim for the first time in four years.

 

* * *

 

 

 With a bottle of whiskey, their father’s old sound system crammed into Severin’s new flat, and half a packet of cigarettes between them, it took less than two hours for Jim to be pushed to the back of Sebastian’s mind. Dinner was long forgotten, neither of them in the mood for food, simply enjoying one another’s company instead

He was sprawled out across the sofa on his back, head back, an empty glass in one hand and a smoke in the other, watching his brother dancing awkwardly to Glenn Miller. Severin’s was holding his long discarded t shirt over his shoulder like a prostitute would a fur coat, and Sebastian was reminded of that night, that last time.

He jumped up, discarding his cigarette in the glass, singing at the top of his voice, and started to dance with Severin, his mind gloriously fuzzy from the whiskey. Hands wandered to Severin’s hips, his brother spun round to face him, clinging drunkenly to Sebastian’s shirt with a stupid grin on his face, his t shirt abandoned on the floor. Lost in the music, he tucked his face into Sebastian’s neck like a puppy, smelling him, taking every detail in after so long and Sebastian was happy for it to happen, he began to rub the nape of Severin’s neck gently, swaying the two of them together with the song.

“I missed you, Sebastian. So much.”

“I know.”

His brother looked up at him, in his arms he felt so much smaller than he’d used too, all of the muscle was gone just leaving Severin’s delicate frame but still, definitely, his twin. And it didn’t take any thought whatsoever for Sebastian to close the gap, pressing their lips together for the first time in four, long years.

The music cut out. Neither twin noticed, even Sebastian was oblivious to the shadow in the doorway.

“Well, well, Tiger. What do we have here?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my first ever fic this had had more attention than I thought it would! Chapters are getting slowly longer as I get better, but I don't have a proof-reader, so if you spot any blaring errors, please let me know and I do apologise.

It was amazing quite how fast the sound of the gentle, Irish lilt could sober up the sniper. He turned, slowly, even though he knew exactly who it was that was standing behind him. He swallowed, and like a chastised child he looked to the ground in silence. He had no excuses.

“I thought I made it quite clear, Sebastian, that you were to leave your brother alone. I let him live. Once. That was your reward, but I told you on no uncertain terms that you were not to make contact again.”

It wasn’t a question, all Sebastian could do was wait for his boss to reach his point, he barely registered his brother stood beside him, drunk and confused and shaking, Jim was in the room, all his attention had to be on Jim. The only thought that crossed his mind was that he’d betrayed Jim, let Jim down, Jim had saved him, given him everything, and he’d disobeyed him.

The criminal strode coolly over to him, hands on his pockets, cruel, bright black eyes glaring up at him, and then Jim backhanded him across his face, hard enough that he would feel the bruise for days. Sebastian knew better than to react.

“I thought we had an understanding, Tiger. You’re mine, you do as I say, when I say it. You don’t _have_ loyalties elsewhere.” The criminal’s eyes drifted over to the other twin, hungrily snaking across his chest. He took a small step sideways and took Severin’s chin in his hand, turning his head from side to side like one might an animal for sale. And Sebastian reached out to stop him. His hand closed around Jim’s wrist, pulling him away from _his_ brother, even Jim didn’t have that privilege. But one look at Jim’s raised eyebrow and Sebastian’s heart raced, he’d made a big mistake.

“Oh _dear_ , Sebastian.” He sighed, his eyes narrowed.

Severin saw it, he was less drunk, less conditioned by Jim to pay attention to nothing but Jim, but Sebastian wasn’t supposed to see it. Jim hadn’t come alone, of course he hadn’t, his right hand man was somewhat indisposed. Severin yelped as heavy footfall approached him, scrabbled desperately at the large hand closed over his mouth. Sebastian barely even noticed the prick in his neck before he fell to the floor, and his world went black.

 

* * *

 

 

He woke curled up on top of his own bed, which was a surprise. His head drummed like thunder, everything spun for the first few moments, the memory of last night came back to him; the booze, the music, the feel of his brother’s lips on his.

And then Jim.

Sebastian sat up like a bolt, instantly regretting the decision as his body instantly emptied the contents of his stomach onto his bedsheets and last night’s clothes, browned blood on the cuff from the dead body, the smell of alcohol and smoke and Severin still very much in the fabric until he’d vomited all over himself.

With shaking hands he managed to unbutton his shirt, pulling himself slowly out of the disgusting mess and wobbling over to the door, he had to shower, if Jim saw him like this…

 Locked. Jim had locked him in his room like he’d been fucking grounded. He tugged at the door handle, thumped the wood with his fist, he had to get out of here, the smell of his own vomit was rancid, the room became more hot and dense with every passing second, and the feeling was all too familiar.

There was a sound from behind him, the soft jangle of keys. He didn’t need to turn to see who was there. Who else would it be? He pressed his forehead to the wood of the door. “Boss.”

“Look at me, Sebastian.” His voice was calm, gentle, unexpected in a way that made a shudder run through Sebastian’s spine. And then a little firmer. “Look at me.”

He turned, puffy, red eyes settling on his boss and in the room that smelled of vomit, with clothes strewn across the floor and the bed unmade, Jim looked so pristine, stood leaning against the window with his arms crossed in his Westwood suit and his Italian made shoes shining.

“Do you remember the first time we met, Sebastian? When I pulled you away from the scummy pit you found yourself in? That foul hotel room in some back alley. Wasn’t it something like this, you lying in a pool of your own vomit with a hangover. I very nearly had someone brought here, didn’t the original have a dead prostitute on the floor? Perhaps that would have been too much attention to detail, but you get the point. Once again, you can’t get out of here without my help.”

He held up the keys, and came towards the blond until he was perhaps a foot away from him, more than a hint of disgust on his face at Sebastian’s state.

“What was that girl’s name, did you ever find out while you were fucking her? You’ll laugh when you get it. I found out, of course. I needed to give my men a name so they could take out the foolish girl who was distracting my newest toy. No, you don’t remember? I’ll tell you, then. A lovely French name, Severine.”

Sebastian nearly threw up again Even through his dry mouth he managed to force the question out.

“Where is my brother?”

Jim grinned maniacally, before moving around him to unlock the door. “Here’s what’s going to happen now, sweetheart. You’re going to strip, leave your clothes on your bed and I will have them taken away. As satisfying as it would be to let you stew in your own mess for a few hours, you’re making my apartment smell. You are going to have a shower and put something clean on, you are going to eat the breakfast that is in the kitchen before you throw up again, and you are not going to ask any questions until you have done so. Then you are going to come to my office. I have something to show you.”

With those instructions he left Sebastian on his own. Everything inside the sniper screamed that this was wrong, Jim should be punishing him like he used to, not cleaning his clothes and feeding him breakfast. But he had little choice, and no desire not to follow Jim’s instructions, and leaving his clothes on the bed he made the short walk, stark naked, to the shower, where he let the scolding water run over his back until it was red, scrubbing every inch. When he was certain he no longer smelled of his own sick, he went back to his room, a towel around his waist. As Jim had said, everything was stripped, even the smell was already clearing out of the open window which gave a welcome chill onto Sebastian’s damp skin.

Once he was clothed, to Jim’s standards, of course, a pressed shirt and trousers, he found breakfast waiting for him. Simple buttered toast and a cup of fresh coffee which he ate, slowly, trying to settle his stomach. Even though Jim was only in the room down the hall the place felt empty, Sebastian felt alone for the first time in four years. He needed to know if Severin was okay, but Jim had told him not to ask questions, so what else could he do but trudge to the office when he was done, waiting obediently at the door until Jim gestured for him to come in.

His boss pointed at an array of screens that certainly hadn’t been there the day before. And each one showed his brother, bruised and battered, but alive, each one a different angle of Severin in the centre of London. Sebastian was able to have himself a moment of relief, Jim hadn’t killed Severin.

“Do you understand what’s going on here, Tiger? They’re waiting for my command.”

He should have known better, the food, the shower, ready to lull him into a false sense of security, another of Jim’s cruellest of games. Sebastian’s wobbling legs gave way at last, and he sank to his knees beside Jim’s chair as he realised exactly what it was he was looking at, what each of those seven cameras was attached to. He looked up at Jim, pale, afraid.

“Snipers...”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I was abroad! But here we go, I hope this makes up for it.

A gentle hand carded through Sebastian’s wet hair, pushing it out of his face, tidying it back the way Jim liked it.

“Yes, pet. Seven snipers. Seven, loyal, snipers ready to fire on your baby brother the second I tell them to. They’re going to be following him for the next few days, weeks, maybe. And if you step out of line, or if you even think of toying with that line, or I hear anything that suggests you’re anything less than my obedient little Tiger, Severin gets a round of bullets in that pretty little face, wherever he happens to be at the moment you disappoint me.”

He was pulled close, until his face was against Jim’s leg like a dog seeking affection, he heard Jim’s exasperated sigh, but he looked back at those screens, his brother looked afraid, perhaps he knew, or maybe he just guessed that by coming back he was now involved in something way bigger than he could ever imagine, but he kept looking over his shoulder, jumping at loud noises, his hands shook as he handed over the money for a hot chocolate in a café.

“Boss…” He began, but he didn’t have the words, didn’t know what he wanted to say, whether to beg, or to apologise.

“Hush, Tiger. It’s okay.” A warm hand on his neck, holding him close, and a soothing voice. “You can make this go away. Prove to me that I don’t have to worry, and Rin will be just fine.”

The hand pulled him up to be eye level with Jim, terrified green eyes met with terrifying dark ones but he couldn’t look away, could barely even blink. And then Jim kissed him, without warning, teeth met lips and blood was drawn, probably Sebastian’s. There was no tenderness in the kiss, it was simply Jim making his mark, making his point and staking his claim, before letting go completely, hand and lips were drawn away and Sebastian slumped back to the floor watching the Italian shoes leave the room.

“Come, Sebastian. I have a job for you.”

 

* * *

 

Murder was the best distraction.

 No place for a rifle today. Today Jim took Sebastian to the fifth floor of an elaborate Mayfair apartment bloc, only a few hundred yards from where Jim and Sebastian lived themselves, but this target had never met the pair, and never would again, so there was no worry of giving their address away.

There was a woman waiting for the lift down when they got there, touching up her makeup in the metal door. She was wearing a maroon dress that barely covered her modesty, it hung low over her breasts, a wad of cash visible in her clutch at a glance.

Well, at least Mr Knight had spent his last night happily.

Jim knocked at the door purposefully, Sebastian stood at his shoulder in an equally sharp shirt and tie, neither looked out of place in the building. The only sign that something was awry was Sebastian’s slightly looser trousers, hiding ample room in the pockets for a pair of leather gloves and a switchblade. Jim had his handgun for now, tucked snugly in a holster under the jacket.

A round, red man in a tacky gold robe opened the door with a furious look on his face, clearly expecting the prostitute to have returned, even if Sebastian held back a snigger when he thought that the man only had to look in the mirror to know she wouldn’t. His face softened slightly when he saw Jim and Sebastian instead, and he tightened the string of his garment.

“Can I help you, gentlemen?” He asked curtly.

Jim grinned. “Mr Peter Knight?” He asked, as though he didn’t already know for sure.

“Yeah. What can I do for you?”

“Oh, I was just in the area, remembered I had little business at this address…” The Irishman reached into his pocket and placed an envelope full of photographs into Mr Knight’s hand. Incriminating evidence, the fat man meeting with one of Jim’s rivals, and the poor man paled when a business card was placed on top of the photos. “May we come in?”

The flat was a tip, clothing and rubbish discarded all over the floor in a way that made Jim’s nose curl. And the owner’s brain was probably just as messy right now, he stumbled over his words trying to make his excuses as he flicked through the images and his situation was made clear. “I wasn’t- This isn’t what it looks like- but-“

“But- this –I-“ Jim mocked him. “It’s no use, sweetheart. If you think you can go behind my back like that, you’re of no use to me whatsoever. I did try to warn you. But you’ve persisted, you silly boy. So, I’ve decided to dispose of you the old fashioned way. Maybe I’ll send your head to Leonov, I’m sure he’d be delighted to learn what a cheating scumbag you were to both of us.”

Mr Knight made a predictable dash for the fire escape, but Sebastian, who always knew when Jim wanted him to strike, was on him within three strides, knocking him to the ground. His throat was slit before his belly made him bounce grossly on the expensive hardwood, spluttering and spitting blood, finally going limp. It wasn’t an elegant death, his silk robe ruffed up baring all among the clothes and last night’s dinner. Sebastian nearly felt sorry for the policeman who would inevitably be the one to discover the body when Mr Knight was reported missing.

Sebastian’s heart was pounding in his chest, his mind sharp and focussed, there was nothing greater than the thrill of a decent kill – Jim had taught him that. But the delight was short lived as a shrill voice rang from the elevator shaft and the open apartment door.

“You fucking bastard! I knew you’d stolen it! And you fucking underpaid me-“

Sebastian was riled up from the kill, after the initial shock of being interrupted he stood from the body and turned to the woman in the maroon dress, the bright colour was stood out against her pale face. Jim was behind her, so that when she ran back at the sight of Sebastian crouched, and over the body the door was shut in her way. Jim gave her an apologetic shrug and Sebastian plunged the knife into her heart. The death was fast, she fell limp and he lowered her to the ground gracefully. He had no remorse, of course, she would have run to the police, and that would have endangered Jim, which was something Sebastian could never allow to happen. And to the ex-soldier, the second kill was just as thrilling as the first, because he did it for Jim.

“Pity.” Jim broke the silence, though he didn’t sound like he really thought the lady’s death was a pity. He spun, looking at the chaos in the flat, his eyes settling on the sniper. Sebastian was stood on edge, the knife was poised ready in his hand and his heart beat strong with his attention on Jim.

“Good boy.”

The sigh of relief was barely audible, Sebastian didn’t relax, barely moved, but hearing Jim say those words made him calmer. Jim stepped towards him in one neat stride over a corpse that may well not have been there. She was of no consequence to either man now. He reached up to pull Sebastian in for a kiss with a hand on each side of his face, but this time, no teeth. It wasn’t gentle, both of them on a high from the hit, the danger of it fuelling them, but it was certainly pleasurable. Without pulling away Sebastian put the knife in his pocket.

And almost the instant the weapon was out of sight, two hands pressed down on his shoulders and Sebastian went with them until he was crouched in front of the criminal, he could almost hear the smirk on Jim’s face.

Sebastian’s fingers, though large and calloused over the years, were nimble. They could twirl a knife like a baton and undo a belt buckle in seconds, and the zipper on Jim’s trousers never got stuck, not on an Armani, there was nothing to hinder Sebastian once he knew what Jim wanted. After years of practice, Sebastian almost always knew what Jim wanted, the criminal always found a way to tell him.

Trousers and pants slid down easily over Jim’s slim hips, just the important couple of inches to reveal Jim’s cock, and Sebastian took a moment to focus.

Jim was having none of that. When Moriarty wanted something he didn’t wait. With a firm hand in Sebastian’s hair he pulled him forward until Sebastian’s nose brushed the dark hair that crowned Jim's member.

“Don’t make me ask twice, darling.”

Lesson learned.

Sebastian took a deep breath, inhaling Jim’s familiar smell, taking Jim in his hand. The fact that Jim was already half hard made him smile as he wrapped his lips around Jim. The subtle sound that came from the criminal only urged him on, and Jim’s hand tightened in his hair.

Sebastian didn’t hold back, then, everything was Jim, everything was about making Jim happy. He rested his hands on the criminal’s thighs to ground himself and used every trick he knew. He hollowed his cheeks around Jim and sucked, unashamed of the small whimper that escaped him. He’d been wrong, before. Murder wasn’t the best distraction, this was, and amidst everything to know his place and know he still belonged there was the best thing Jim could have done for him.

And although Sebastian could feel Jim getting harder and knew it was because of _him_ , there was no denying who was in control. The second Jim wanted more he took it, thrusting forwards into Sebastian’s mouth, holding the sniper still with one hand. Six foot four and pure muscle and he was held in place by one hand and he loved it.

“Good boy…” Jim repeated, his voice gave away that he was close, and Sebastian gazed up at him with a smile, opening his throat to let Jim use him in whatever way he wanted.

“Always there to kill for me, my Tiger, always there to please me. _Mine_.” Jim was almost growling, and all too suddenly he pulled Sebastian right in, his nose pressed tight against Jim’s crotch so that he couldn’t breathe until Jim was done.

“Swallow.” A satisfied hum, and his boss let him fall to the floor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter to make up for my delay. University has kept me busy! Hope you enjoy. As always, I don't have a beta reader, so if you spot any mistakes, let me know and I'll change them ASAP.

                          

Things went on like this for a long time. Sebastian, as he always had, blindly obeying everything Jim told him, but his mind was always on his brother. And, of course, Jim knew.

The sniper had taken to venturing in to Jim’s office when the criminal wasn’t occupying it, tucking his legs underneath him in the chair and watching the screens. It was a comfort. To watch Severin go about his normal life, buying coffee, chatting up various boys and girls, taking long walks along the Thames. Sebastian wasn’t sure if Severin knew he was being watched, Jim’s men were the best, they'd never let themselves be seen of course, but Severin had always been clever.

Thrice Jim came home to find his sniper asleep in the office chair. He left him there, or Sebastian would wake in the early hours to find Jim watching him from a darkened doorway, and Sebastian would trudge past him as though ashamed to flop down in his own bed.

But he didn’t disobey again. He didn’t try to make contact with Severin, he didn’t even beg for Jim to call off the snipers because he knew it was useless. Jim would call them off when he was ready, Sebastian trusted him enough for that, and when Jim promised him that Severin would remain unharmed if Sebastian remained loyal, Sebastian believed him. If nothing else, James Moriarty was a man of his word.

 

* * *

 

It was three months later when things finally changed. It had almost become normal for Sebastian, to watch his twin only through a sniper’s crosshairs, it was how he saw most of his world after all.

Sebastian had come home from a job, six foolish Bulgarian thugs versus Moriarty’s best hitman, it was a walkover, but he was tired and caked in blood, some of it his own. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a cigarette before he even thought about speaking to Jim, who was laying on his back on the sofa lost in thought. But he took a passing glance at the seven screens as he passed the office door, barely even taking notice of what was on them, it rarely differed any more.

It wasn’t until he was a few feet past that he stopped, and his heart stopped, that perfect intuition that had kept him alive on the job had flared up again, something was wrong.

With a determined stride he went back into the office, palms on the desk as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing, none of the screens showed his brother any more, the images were cracked, grey and dark.

“Boss-“ He called out, startling Jim from his concentration and the short tempered criminal came storming into the room ready to shout at him, but one look at Sebastian’s worried face and the peculiar images on the screen and he softened to a huff of indignation. He started to fiddle around with the keyboard, manually controlling the cameras as much as he could to see why the snipers appeared to have laid down their weapons.

The first image came up, hair. The back of someone’s head all matted and bloody, and when Jim got the image as zoomed out as possible it was clear they were looking at a gunshot wound, the rifle dropped to the floor and the sniper shot down beside it. Jim frowned, Sebastian couldn’t take his eyes away.

“That’s Ellis…?” He asked. He knew who was on Jim’s little team because they were people he worked with himself, men and women he’d trained up to Jim’s standards, and he held no contempt for them, they were just doing their job.

Jim just bit the inside of his cheek and didn’t look at the sniper as he set to work on the second camera. Through cracked glass the view of a rooftop was clear, a limp and dead foot just visible on the edge of the image. Another was completely black, as though a blunt force had come down on the camera, a body, perhaps. Somebody had picked off Jim’s men one by one. And Sebastian struggled to understand.

“Why would someone do this..?” He asked quietly, turning to look at Jim and trying to hide his heart rising in his throat as he prayed to whoever was listening that his hunch was wrong. Severin had to be okay. It occurred to him briefly that Severin might have done this, but it was impossible, if Severin attacked one of the team the other six would have pounced on him before he could cause any more damage.

“Where is he, boss?”

Silence.

“Boss, don’t do this…”

Jim’s phone started to buzz on the desk, he picked it up without saying a word, letting the tinny voice on the other end say all it needed to say.  
“Find him.” Jim growled down the phone after what seemed like an age of silence. He turned to Sebastian, and the sniper had never seen his boss look like this. The criminal was biting his lip, paled even for his Irish complexion, staring up at Sebastian with large, pitiful eyes.

“Oh, Tiger…” He spoke softly, it was starting to frighten Sebastian, and when Jim lifted a hand and placed it at the nape of his neck, he let himself be drawn in so that their foreheads were touching, he could feel the glisten of sweat on Jim’s brow and it scared him, listening to words that horrified him because he’d never in his wildest dreams heard them said by James Moriarty.

“My Tiger, I’ve made a big mistake…”

Sebastian swallowed. “What are you talking about? What’s going on, boss? Tell me?” He didn’t care that his voice was harsh, right now he’d talk back to Jim a million times and demand he told him what was going on. He pulled away from the criminal, frantically searching his pockets for his own mobile and with baited breath he punched in a number he didn’t even know if his brother still used, it was all he had, one he’d memorised many years ago.

No answer, the line rang a few times and then died. The sniper swore loudly and ran a hand through his hair.

He tried another number, Marcel, one of Jim’s men, and he yelled at the man to get him Ellis’s coordinates immediately.

“I can’t, Moran.” Came the reply. “Boss’s orders.”

A wiry hand snatched the phone from Sebastian’s grip and Jim started to hiss at the man.

“Do as he says, right now.”

Another agonising silence.

“Get a team to each of the others. See if they’re still alive. And find Severin Moran. Now.”

Jim didn’t seem able to meet Sebastian’s eye, he turned sharply, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair with a silent order for Sebastian to follow. Over his shoulder he tossed the car keys back to the sniper, and then his phone too, open on a set of co-ordinates.

The drive seemed so long to Sebastian, his heart barely beating because Jim still wasn’t speaking, he wouldn’t tell him what was going on, perhaps he didn’t know himself, but it made the journey to the rooftop horrible.

Ellis was dead. That much had been evident from the image they had seen, but seeing him in full in real life still sent a shudder through Sebastian. It wasn’t very often that someone got to Moriarty’s men, and now they had taken seven in one go. Sebastian tried for a pulse, to little avail, before he looked up from where he was knelt, looking at Jim, exhausted and afraid.

“Tell me what’s happened.”

Jim looked at the floor, then at Ellis’s corpse, then back to Sebastian.

“I overlooked the obvious.” He said vaguely, one of Jim’s little riddles that made Sebastian itch, but to his relief the criminal continued.

“I made him a target. Each of my enemies, my business partners, how suspicious it must have looked to them. Seven of my best men following someone so ordinary but never shooting, someone who drinks takeaway coffee and buys his clothes in a high street supermarket. Someone who doesn’t exist on any record. And, the one thing I didn’t account for, someone who, to anyone who has ever had the pleasure of doing business with my company, would be easily recognisable as my bodyguard and chief of staff. He’s your brother, Sebastian. But according to official records…” He didn’t need to say any more, Sebastian had slumped down, one hand in his hair, staring blankly at the body in front of him.

They thought Severin was him. A few little phone calls and Severin Moran would have been confirmed dead, the only person those snipers could have been following was Sebastian himself. Jim had led them all right to him, or so they thought.

The sniper’s jaw clenched, he swallowed down his pride, his hands balled into fists beside him. Jim Moriarty never made mistakes, so why now? Why did the first error he’d known the criminal to make have to be this one? Ellis and the others he could handle losing, they knew what they were getting into just like Sebastian did. But Severin was supposed to be safe.

“Find him.”  

“I’ll try, Tiger.”

“No, you find him, whatever it takes.” Sebastian had stood, and was rounding on the criminal, not thinking, he was walking towards him like he was going to throw a punch at the man. Jim didn’t move, though there might have been a glimmer of curiosity in those black eyes, a brief second when he thought Sebastian might not stop.

The blond stopped just inches from him.

“You told me he’d be fine, you told me if I behaved he’d be okay”

“I know.”

“I can’t lose him again.”

The criminal seemed to consider this for a moment. “Of course.” He murmured, turning away with a hand pressed to his temple, like he could simply dig for a solution, Sebastian stared after him.

The moment was broken once again by Jim’s phone, he pulled it out. “What?” He snapped, and listened to Marcel before hanging up.

“Car.” He said simply, and Sebastian followed.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the very long wait... I wasn't certain where it was going and had to figure it out.

There was a reason Sebastian usually drove. It wasn’t simply because he was there at Jim’s beck and call. It was because, honestly, Sebastian would rather fight a hundred armed thugs than let Jim take the wheel.

This time he didn’t get a choice, Jim was in the drivers seat before Sebastian could complain, so the sniper got in the passenger seat and took a tight hold on the door for the ride. Jim swerved around corners, nearly turned the car over several times and Sebastian was sure at one point they wouldn’t make it to their destination alive but it wasn’t the time for complaints. Someone in an office in London was working hard to stop the police from getting on to Moriarty’s tail.

Jim was silent the whole time, which the sniper found the most unnerving. He watched Jim staring out of the front window, face firm, and Sebastian had never seen it before. Jim looked… nervous was the best way to describe it, and Sebastian hated it.

He sat back, one hand clinging to the door, the other running nervously through his hair, before he dared to speak up.

“Where are we going?”

“West.” A vague answer, Sebastian scowled, even now Jim wasn’t giving him all the information, he still knew better than to question, but his scowl turned to a frown when he recognised the area.

“We’re back at the flat?”

No reply. Jim pulled the car up outside the flat, pointedly not looking at Sebastian, his eyes focussed forwards, and because Sebastian was watching Jim, he didn’t notice the man who came up beside him and opened the car door, a large hand on Sebastian’s arm startled him and indicated he should get out. Sebastian did so, looking at the burly man.

“Lloyd.” He greeted, confused, his mind took a few seconds to understand, eyes flitting to the cuffs at the man’s side, and with a sigh he looked back to his boss.

“You’re arresting me.” He understood.

“You’re a liability now, Tiger.” Came the calm purr from the car. “I need to be sure you’ll behave. There’s more at stake than you know. Whoever they are, they’ve got themselves a powerful bargaining chip.”

Sebastian’s jaw tightened as he understood what was really going on. “You don’t trust me not to betray you for his return.”

Jim’s silence answered his question. Sebastian scoffed, and begrudgingly allowed the burly Welshman beside him to cuff his hands and lead him towards another car. He wouldn’t fight because now, more than ever, he needed to trust Jim, and let him fix things. Severin was in danger if Sebastian interfered, though right now, if Jim didn’t trust Sebastian, Sebastian was finding it very hard to trust Jim in return.

Jim drove off without another word, and Sebastian was inelegantly escorted to one of the cells, eight feet by eight feet of grey concrete. His gun was taken from him and the door securely locked behind him. He at least got a look of sympathy from Lloyd before the electronic lock clanged into place.

 

* * *

 

 

 He had to trust Jim.

Until today, he would have put all his faith in the man. Jim Moriarty could make anything happen. Maybe trust wasn’t the right word, every day Sebastian half expected that he’d wake up with a knife to his throat or a bullet to his chest. But if Jim promised something, he delivered.

He’d never seen Jim fuck up before. In this moment, as he paced the cell, he hated Jim for letting this happen, he hated Severin for coming back. Everything had been fine; he and Jim worked well together, and then his brother had swanned back into his life and everything had gone sour. As much as he hated to admit it, things had been better when Severin was dead.

He scolded himself for even thinking that. For most of his life Severin had been the most important thing in his life. His twin, his best friend and, for a short while, even more than that. The best times of Sebastian’s life had been long nights with his brother, when they were teenagers, and it had continued in the army. The risk of being found out only made it more thrilling.

With a long sigh, Sebastian sat on the metal bed, his mind racing. But he found he was too het up to sit still, so he stood again, began to pace again. It started the cycle, he’d pace. Sit down. Yell at the guard. Pace some more, shake the bars…

Jim didn’t trust him.

That was the worst part.

Maybe he was right not to. After all, Sebastian had been seconds away from flooring Jim for endangering Severin, perhaps Jim understood before Sebastian did that Severin was the only man who could make Sebastian disobey Jim’s orders.

He was given dinner, which he didn’t expect, Jim’s prisoners didn’t usually live long enough to require feeding. They certainly weren’t usually fed Chinese take away. Jim was looking after him, then. That was something.

And then breakfast. A full fry-up. He’d spent all night pacing, thinking, worrying, he hadn’t seen the hours go by. His mind drifted to his brother again, wondering if he was okay, if he was still alive, if he was being tortured. He remembered how scrawny Severin had looked in the pub and shuddered to think how long he’d survive.

“You haven’t slept.”

He spun round. Jim was just feet away, the other side of the bars but out of reach should the prisoner decide to lash out.

“Nice of you to visit.” Sebastian snapped.

“Now now, Tiger. I’ve made sure you’re taken care of.”

“Where is my brother?”

“I nearly asked them to bring you some board games, thought you and Lloyd could pass the time. But he doesn’t know how to play chess, and one of us tore up the monopoly board with a bayonet last Christmas… I forget who.”

Sebastian scoffed, taking a seat on the floor, back against the wall, glaring out at Jim. To his annoyance the criminal only grinned.  “Look at you; a tiger ready to pounce. Ready to tear apart the man responsible for this on my command.”

His smile faded, his intense stare matched only by Sebastian’s own as he strode up close to the bars of the cage, looking in on Sebastian like he was an animal at the zoo. “At least, I hope you’d wait for my command. My little attack dog, the most vicious killer in London, does whatever I tell him to, no questions asked.”

Sebastian’s head fell back against the concrete. He understood what this was about. Sebastian’s loyalty had been called into question. He’d barely noticed it himself. One drunk mistake, that’s what he’d thought. But Jim had watched him, for three months he’d seen the way Sebastian obsessed over the screens in his office, noticed how Sebastian was more alert in a crowd, hoping to see a familiar face. He raised an eyebrow at the sniper, even now Sebastian’s hand was clasped around the dog tags around his neck, and he hadn’t even noticed he was doing it. He let it fall into his lap.

Sebastian bit his tongue. He knew what he wanted to ask, he needed to know what had happened, where his brother was, was he safe. But Jim was testing him.

He needed to trust Jim.

Jim watched him for a long moment, waiting for Sebastian to say something. A satisfied smirk crossed his face at the sniper’s silence.

“No questions asked.” He said gently. “Good boy…”

He reached up, punching in the code for the door. It opened with a clunk and a hiss.

“Come, Sebastian. It’s time you got your revenge.”


	9. Chapter 9

Sebastian was back in the driver’s seat. Eyes on the road, very aware of Jim’s boring into the back of his head. The screen in front of him beeped out directions to a location just outside of London. The drive was twenty minutes, half an hour, but the minutes creeped by at a snail’s pace.

“Park over there.” Jim’s sudden voice made Sebastian start and he cursed himself for it. He hated being out of tune with Jim, especially now.  
The car was out of sight, and Sebastian followed Jim towards the warehouse, saying nothing, just nodding when his handgun and his knife were handed to him and his orders were given in a hushed voice.

“Stay out of sight, stay where you can see me, and don’t get involved until I need you. You know what’s at stake here, don’t you?” They were basic orders, usually given with a flick of the wrist and the right look. Right now Sebastian couldn’t get anything from his boss’s face.  
“Yeah.”  
He got a stern glare from his boss at his nonchalance.

He was pointed at a door, a fire exit leading to the first floor. There were no guards, but the ground was littered with cigarette butts. One or two were still glowing, so it would do to be wary, it seemed men came this way often.  
Jim called after him before he entered, and it made Sebastian shudder.  
“Prove me wrong, Sebastian.”  
Jim still didn’t quite trust him.

Jim was going in the front, he always did like to make an entrance, and by the time Sebastian had climbed his way to the balcony and crept past the guards, Jim was already making his speech. In front of him, sprawled out in a chair like he was in charge, sat a man Sebastian recognised. Leonov: Russian born but English bred, and a perpetual pain in Jim’s arse since day one. He’d tried to turn Jim’s clients against him, executed his men, each time a pathetic attempt to get the upper hand. He’d played his last card here by trying to attack Sebastian, and if the number of men he had around the building was anything to go by, he understood that too.

“- I thought you’d get the hint when I took out your obnoxious messenger. Or were you upset that we had to kill the young lady, too?” Jim simply oozed confidence, his hands were in his pockets, a smug smile on his face, he danced around on his heels as he spoke. “But no. You decided you simply had to go bigger. You’re not just threatening my clients, now, you started on my staff.”

The Russian sat up, his square jaw tensed as he spoke, the accent evident even though he tried to hide it, playing the top-hat Englishman poorly. “The word got out, Moriarty. To get to you, get to your chief of staff. I was the only one smart enough to do it.”

Jim burst out laughing, much to Leonov’s obvious anger. It echoed off the walls of the warehouse, and every man Leonov had around tensed, aiming their weapons at Jim, afraid of the unpredictability of the man even when their boss thought he had him beaten.

Sebastian took the opportunity among the nerves to start taking out the men. It was so easy, they were all too afraid of Jim to even think that he might not have come alone. They fell to Sebastian’s knife one by one, with his hand over their mouth to stop the noise.

He came to the end of the balcony, it swerved off into an open room, and Sebastian thought to check for any more cowardly guards. He turned inside, gun ahead of him, just in time to see someone scampering out of the open window at the back of the room.

And Severin. Lying in a heap in the corner, bloodied and shaking but god, he was alive.

Sebastian dropped to his knees beside him and carefully pulled him onto his side, the initial touch made Severin jump, but Sebastian murmured to him, trying not to give away the nerves in his own voice.

“Christ… I’m sorry, Rin. I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”  
At his voice Severin reached out, clinging to Sebastian’s shirt, his body heaving in a sob, it hurt to have to peel him away and leave him, but Sebastian had a job to do, and he couldn’t afford to fuck this one up too.

“I’m going to come back. I swear.” He promised, and kissed Severin’s head, then forced himself to turn away, steeled, ready to work, for Severin’s sake.

 

* * *

 

 

Downstairs, Jim continued.  
“Yes, dear, you’ve been very clever. You’ve taken Moran off my hands, you even took out a whole sniper team just to get to him. But you were so very keen to get to him that you didn’t stop to think that there might be a reason I had a whole sniper team watching him…”

Leonov tried to hide his discomfort, his mind practically whirred as he tried to get one step ahead, figure out where Jim was going with this. He cocked his head like a confused puppy.

“… Maybe he’d betrayed me, maybe he’d disappointed me sexually, maybe someone else got to him before you did and changed his loyalties. But you don’t know Sebastian like I do. He’s too good for that. He’s the best. I wouldn’t let anyone else get that close to me. So it only remains, dear, that you’ve made a very, very big mistake in trying to mess with me.”

There was no obvious signal, no call sign, no movement, but Sebastian was there with impeccable timing, emerging beside Jim with a stern face and a gun in his hand, right on time to see the colour drain from the Russian’s ugly face. Jim didn’t even turn around, but Jim wanted Sebastian to be there and, if he wanted Jim’s respect once again that was where he would be.

“How-? Impossible-” Leonov clamped his mouth shut to avoid making even more a fool of himself, before changing his mind. “Guards! Guards! Shoot them!”

Jim looked around the room in false expectancy, amusement evident in every movement.

“I don’t think they’re coming. Sebastian here has had a bit of a rough day – I trust you took care of them, Tiger?”

“Yes boss.” Sebastian’s blue eyes were icy sharp on the Russian. “But the job’s not finished yet.”

“No? Just wait a moment, Tiger…”

It was a joy to watch Leonov become more and more uncomfortable. Only his stubbornness prevented him from bolting, and a firm hand on the back of Sebastian’s neck kept him from pouncing.

“I’ll tell you where he is… you can have him, you can have the money, my business, whatever you want.”

Jim stroked Sebastian’s hairline, goosebumps spread down Sebastian’s arms.

“Oh, I think Moran has already been found. I don’t think even I have the power to stop Sebastian from tearing you apart, Leonov.” The hand tightened, several strands of hair were tugged out.  
Then it was taken away, just as fast as the Russian stood up.

The knife sank into his chest with so much force it glanced the concrete on the floor, ribs broke with an audible snap under Sebastian’s fingers, and pleading words changed to pained gasps for air.

Sebastian let go of the knife, leaving it where it was in Leonov’s chest. There was no elegance now, this was a kill given to him by Jim, and he let loose, fists flying. He didn’t stop until every bone was broken, long after Leonov was dead and his blood splattered feet from the body, coating Sebastian’s hands and shirt, and if he wasn’t pining to get back to his brother, Sebastian wouldn’t have finished for some time to go.

Jim waited for him. Watched him until he was finished, he didn’t say a word until Sebastian was back at his side, breathing heavily, and blue eyes moved away from the corpse and back to Jim. Obedient and ready.

Jim’s whole demeanour had changed, his features had softened, and he seemed thoughtful as he looked upon the sniper.

“Good boy, Sebastian. Very good.”  
He even smiled. Small, but pleased.


End file.
